Fooling Around
by Elvendorked
Summary: "That was Travis Stoll. Always one step ahead of the game." But, is he really? Travis finally gets a taste of his own medicine; by the hands of none other than Katie Gardner herself, of course. One-shot, complete.


**A.N. Just something that came to me while I was lying in bed last night. Also Ch. 4 of my story 'Instinctual.'**

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><p>Katie had had enough. She had put up with him when he had stolen all the gardening tools, she had put up with him when he had <em>mowed<em> the roof and she had put up with him when he had painted their walls with tomato sauce. Hades, she had even put up with him when he had decorated the roof of her cabin with chocolate Easter bunnies.

But releasing a hoard of insects into her strawberries? That was the _final straw_.

Needless to say, Katie was _furious_. "THIS IS WAR, STOLL!" she screamed at her boyfriend. "If I were you, I'd watch my back!"  
>Travis Stoll merely grinned at her cheekily and said, "If I were me, I wouldn't need to."<p>

Katie glared at him as he leaned in close and said, "You know you love me."

And the thing was: she did.

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><p>Travis sighed contentedly. All in all, it had been a good day. Nothing like a summer's day filled with numerous, witty pranks eh?<p>

Messed up the Big House in some way? _Check._  
>Thrown someone in the lake? He glanced at a still-dripping-wet Nico. <em>Check.<em>  
>Annoyed Katie Gardner? <em>Double check.<em>

He grinned as he saw the glares from Cabin Four from across the dining pavilion. Little did they know that he had already planned his next scheme that he was going to play on them. And it was going to be _big_.

That was Travis Stoll. Always one step ahead of the game.

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><p>Travis could not say that he was feeling the same two days later. Hanging upside down by his foot off the doorframe of Cabin Four was not what he would call his ideal way to spend a glorious summer day. He had stuff to be getting on with! Pranks to carry out, people to aggravate. As far as he was concerned, this was wasting his precious time.<p>

How was he supposed to know that these tomato vines held grudges? All he did last time was pick the tomatoes but apparently (and no-one told _him _this), they did not appreciate being used as paint; no matter how much artistic talent he put into using it.

So here he comes along, all jolly like, with a 'borrowed' pair of shears to cut the vines, but instead, he ends up feeling the worst of their ungodly wrath and before he knows it, he has ended up like this; the most uncomfortable position manageable. His head was pounding with all the blood rushing to it and he could not feel the rest of his body. For the first time, Travis had no idea how to get out of this one.

Travis Stoll, the fool.

He spots Katie walking towards her cabin. She has a look on her face, like she is trying not to laugh. What is she laughing… _oh_. Dammit.

"Hey Katie," he calls, "mind helping out your beloved boyfriend a little bit?"

Katie stares at him, stares at the discarded pair of shears on the ground, back at him and pieces two and two together. "Serves you right," she says smugly and sidesteps past his swinging limbs to get into her cabin.

"Katie, please!" Travis whines. But it does him no good. If anything, Katie uses her chlorokinesis to make the vines wrap tighter around his ankle. He sighs.

This was going to be a long day.

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><p>Travis limped slowly back to his cabin. It had been two days since 'the incident' yet his ankle still hurt like Hades and his neck was still as stiff as a board. <em>'Thank the Gods for Chiron,' <em>Travis thought. He made a mental note to be nicer to the old horse-man from now on, how ever much he enjoyed setting parts of the camp on fire.

Upon reaching his bunk, he found that his mattress had been replaced with bales of hay. His old bedding was nowhere to be seen. Travis laughed. This was their idea of a prank? _Man, those people need to learn to live on the wild side_.  
>Too tired to steal a sleeping bag from the camp store, Travis shrugged, and lay down on the hay, finding it surprisingly comfortable.<p>

"Huh. You're going to have to try harder than that, Katie."

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><p>'<em>If I were you, I'd watch my back!' <em>she had said. He did not think she would mean it literally. Travis groaned, craned his neck _*ouch*_ and looked at his back in the mirror. Angry red welts were already forming. He winced.

Insecticides and itching powder. A beginner's trick. If only he had actually _looked _at the hay.

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><p>A further two days and Travis was feeling jumpy. The Demeter cabin had yet to pull something else off on him and he was getting suspicious. It was odd, and Travis could not quite place his finger on it. Knowing that Katie was not one to give up easily, he had eagerly watched their cabin for any tell-tale signs, but to no avail.<p>

What were they up to?

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><p>"Travis! Travis!" Connor's voice rang out through camp. "Come quick, you better see this."<p>

Concerned, Travis followed his brother until they reached the outskirts of camp. "Connor, what is this about? If this is some kinda trick, I swear I'm—"

"Travis," Connor interrupted, "it's Katie. And it might not be something you want to see."  
>Nevertheless, Connor put a finger to his lips and gestured for Travis to follow. Slowly, they made their way into a small clearing in the forest. Connor pointed.<p>

In the centre of the clearing, two people sat on a log, with their backs facing the two brothers. The girl had her head resting on the boy's shoulder. The boy must have said something because the girl laughed and _she took his hand_.

It took a few moments for Travis to recognise Katie.

A million thoughts rushed through Travis's mind: what? Who? When? Was he not good enough for her? Maybe he came on too strong; maybe it was how annoying he was. Maybe it was those tricks that he played – but they did not mean anything! Where? How? Most importantly: _why?_

Then they all disappeared and were replaced with one feeling: jealousy.

In big strides, Travis made their way over to the couple, anger building up inside him as he walked. "Travis—" Connor warned, but it did no good. Katie turned around, grinned and at the same time, Travis pulled the other boy by the shoulder, causing him to tumble backwards off the log.

"KEEP YOUR HANDS—"

Then Travis noticed the face. As in _really _noticed the face. Realisation dawned and he knew that he had been tricked. Above all, he knew _who _had done this.

Travis Stoll. What an idiot.

The sounds of Katie's giggles shook him from his reverie. He looked up from the face of the dressed-up straw dummy to see Katie now in peals of laughter. He turned to glare at his brother, who was trying unsuccessfully not to start laughing himself.

"You knew about this?" Travis demanded.

"Well… I might have um… had an inkling…" Connor stuttered nervously to the ground, looking as if he wanted it to open up and swallow him. Katie stopped laughing.

Then Travis saw the funny side of things, and was unable to contain his emotions any longer. He let out his relief in choked up laughs; breaking the awkward silence. The other two looked at each other, looked at Travis and burst out laughing again.

"The look on your face—"

"Jealous of a dummy!"

"The _prankster_ just got **pranked**!"

By the end of it, the three of them were laughing so hard that they were rolling around on the floor, clutching their stomachs. Tears spilled from Katie's eyes and Travis was gasping for air. He had not laughed that hard since the day they (finally) managed to sever Chiron's tail.

Then Connor abruptly stood up, rushed over to Travis and whispered in his ear, "There's a camera in the dummy's head." He ran off before Travis could react.

Travis smiled devilishly and raised an eyebrow at Katie.

This time, it was her who leaned in and said, "You know you love me."

And the thing was: he did.

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><p><strong>Did you like it? It was my first attempt at a TravisKatie shot. Forever grateful for your reviews,**

**~The Moonlit Waters.**


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